Trapdoor for mines



March 24, 1925.

E. HARTLEY ET AL TRAPDOOR FOR MINES Filed Nov. '1, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 iii Patented Mar. 24, 1925.

PATENT OFFICE.

EDGAR HARTLEY, PAUL vAGrNA, ANnHon-Acn gimme, or JOLIET', rumors.

'rRAPnoon non MINES.

Application filed November To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that EDGAR HARTLEY, Pix-UL VAGINA, and Hon-AGE HARTLEY, citizens of the United States, residing at Joliet, in the county of Will and State of Illinois,

have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Trapdoors for Mines; and they do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in" the art to which it appertains to make. and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in safety trap doors for mine: and more particularly to .an automatically operated door which will open when a mine car approaches the same, and which will close after the mine car has passed through the said door. c

An object of the invention is to provide an automatically operated safety trap door for mines which will be constructed of tire proof material and which will. open when the mine ca" .is about to reach thes'ame, and closeas soon as the mine car has passed by.

Another object of the in ention is to providean automatically operated safety trap door for mines which will be provided with suitable circuit breakers and makers which will positively operate an electric motor connected-with suitable gcar-' ing to open the mine door when a mine car apprmiching it and to close the same as soon as the mine car has passed by.

A still further object of the invention is to" provide anYauton'ratic electrically operated safety trap door for mines which will be highly efficient in use and quite in expensive to manufacture and operate.

Other objects willappear as the description proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings which forma part of our application;

Fig. 1 is a plan View, partly in section", of our improved trapdoor showing the means for operating the same.

Fig. 2 is a detailed view of the con tact making device on the rail which is adapted to be operated by the car.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view through the rail showing the said contact making de- VICE.

"1, 1923. Serial No. 673,320.

Fig. 4- is a side elevation of the door and operating mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view showing the tracks of support and roller hangers for the door.

Fig. 6 is a detailed view of the circuit breaking mechanism,

Fig. 7 is a sectional end View of Fig. 6'.

Like characters .of reference are used throughout the following specification and the accompanying drawings to designate corresponding parts. I

A sliding door 1 0i lire-proof material is mounted to slide in the channel tracks 2 and is supported in saidtracks by means of the roller hangers 3 and is kept from upward movement by means ofthe spaced rollers 4.

A rack 5 securely fastened on the bottom of the .door 1 is adaptedtomesh with a pinion 6 mountedon the shaft .7, the same being supported by suitable brackets. The shaft? is driven by means of gearing such as a bevel gear arrangement 8 and motor 9'. The bevel gears 31 and33 aremounted in such" a manner that they are thrown inv and out of mesh with gear 32, mounted on thei shaft of motor 9 by means of a shift lever '10 which is connected by the rod 11 to a vertical bar or lever 12 on top of which is pivoted a suitable weight 13, forkedfor limited rocking movement.

As clearly shown in the drawings door 1 his snugly in a frame 1 -1 on two sides and in a frame work .15 at bottom. y

The frame work 15 is notched or cut out at the track intersection to allow for the passage of the wheels 'of a mine car which isadaptedto bedriven on said track. The top of the door-fits snugly in between the the the channel tracks 2 thereby practically seal the ing the-.four sides of said door against the passage of air. A plate 16*c'loses up the opening from the wall to the piece of frame work 14, thereby providing an absolute barrier. in case of fire. g

A trolley breaker 18 is mounted on one of the channel tracks 2 and is pivoted at itsuppe'r end 19 so that it can be rotated one. quarter revolution. the trolley breaker 18 is caused by means of the pin 20 as follows: A small angle The rotation of 21 engages the pin and thereby turns the trolley breaker 18 into the dotted line position as best shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings without making contact with the other parts of the trolley and forms a perfect trolley track. 1

As the said door 1 is opened further the circuit breaker 22 comes in contact with the contact blocks 23 and 2 1 which are resiliently mounted on the springs and 2-6 thereby separating the said contact blocks 23 and 24, at which time the electric cir cuit which has been operating the motor 9 is broken and the motor will consequently come to a stop. v

Just before the contact blocks 23 and 24; are forced apart by the insulating mem-- ber of the circuit breaker 22 the lug 27 comes in contact with the bent end 28 of the bar 29, forcing the same slightly to the right as shown in dotted position in Fig. l of the drawings. As thebar 29 is forced to the right it carries with it the bar or lever 12 since the two are fastened together by means of, the bolt 30. \Vhen the bar or lever 12 reaches its maximum movement as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, the weight 13 due to its own momentum will be thrown past the center into a position shown in dotted lines'in Fig. L thereby holding the bar or lever 12 and its connecting members with the clutch in a rigid position. As the bar 12 is thrown from its full line to its dotted line position, it will readily be seen that it will carry with it the bar 11 and the shifting clutch lever 10, thereby demeshing the gears 31 and 32 and meshing the gears 33 and 32. By this time as before described the motor will have come to a stop.

The opening of the door will be affected by the approach of a car on the track, since when the car wheel rides up on the contact making bar 34 it presses the same down so that the surface 35 comes in contact with the binding post connection 36 thereby making or closing the circuit and starting the motor 9, which will continue to run until the circuit is again broken by the separa 'tion of the contact blocks 23 and 24 as before described. I

As soon as the mine car passes through to closed position exactly as in the same manner as it was previously opened. The reverse movement of the door is brought about by the shifting of the gears 31, 32 and 33. Just before the door is fully closed the lug 27 cont-acts with the end 28 of the bar 29 thereby carrying with it the bar or lever 12 from the dotted line to the full line position. At the same time the circuit breaker 22 is forced between the contact blocks 37 and 38 thereby spaces the same, breaks the circuit to the motor and causes it tostop running.

All of the operating mechanism, door frame, tracks, and door are made of fireproof material thereby enabling the door when shut or closed to shut off fire as well as air.

Many minor changes in detail of construction may be resorted to without departure from the spirit of the invention. I

Furthermore, the door 1 may be provided with a handle to of any suitable type. so that this door may be opened or closed by hand at any time when the power is off. This is important as the door should be capable of being opened by hand without the use of the operating mechanism or machinery, for the purpose of ingress or egress by anyone who would wish to pass through the door at any time.

Having thus described our invention what we claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

' 1. An automatically operatedtrap door for mines, comprising a door frame, a door slidably mounted therein, a rack carried on the bottom of the said door, a motor and gearing connected with said rack, a track positioned below said door, circuit makers positioned on said track at either side of said door whereby the same will be caused to open as the mine car runs upon said'circuit maker, the said door to close when the mine car runs upon the opposite circuit breaker.

2. An automatically operated fire-proof trap door for mines, comprising a slidable mounted door, arack carried at ,thelower end thereof, a motor and gearing cooperating with said rack for opening and closing said door, circuit breakers adapted to be operated bysaid door prior to its being in fully closed and opened position and associated means for reversing said gearing for opening and closing said doori 3. An automatically operated fire-proof trap door for mines, comprising a slidable door, a rack carried at the bottom thereof, a motor and gearing adapted to cooperate with said rack for opening and closing said door, circuit breakers adapted to be operated by said door prior to its being in fully opened or closed position, track and circuit makers in circuit with said motor and adapted to operate the same when the wheels or? the car pass over said circuit makers and an automatic operated weighted mechanism adapted to change the position of said gearing to affect the direction of rotation of the same for opening and closing said door.

4. An automatic fire door for mines comprising a slidable door, a motor, gear means connecting the motor in operative relation with the door including clutch controlled gears for reversing the direction of the motion, a clutch controlling said reversing gears and a weighted lever of limited throw associated with the clutch.

5. In association with a sliding fire door for mines having an operative motor, gearing connecting the motor with the door to slide the same including reversing gears, a clutch controlling said reversing gears and means operative of said clutch including a vertical lever, a slide member pivoted to the lever and having spaced lugs'and a lug mounted on the door adapted to engage the spaced lugs on the slide member-to slide the same in opposite directions to shift said reversing gears.

(3. The structure specified in claim 6' with tracks and a trolley for operating cars 3 a forked andweighted lever pivoted on the vertical lever adapted to throw the momentum of its weight into the final movement of the vertical lever to'assure the positive seatingot the reversing gears in operative position. r

7. In an automatic fire door for mines having a sliding door in association with through the doorway, a trolley breaker comprising a trolley track section adapted to bridge the doorway, a vertical pivot therefor secured adjacent the doorway, a lug extending laterally from the track section and a lug carried by the door adapted to engage the first mentioned lug to rotate said trolley track section 90.

In testimony whereof We afiiX our signatures. I

EDGAR HARTLEY. PAUL VAGINA. 'IIORACE I-IARTIJEY.

lVitnesses I GLAoYs I-IAUsER, GEORGE J. Anmn'rnn. 

